Finally - the peas have risen!

I guess I should be thankful that they are coming up at all after all that rain, but I planted the seeds back on March 21 and just this week I can see them popping up. Pity though, they will need to be pulled out to make room for the tomatoes on Memorial Day weekend. I think the only ones that I will see a harvest from are the dwarf grays. They are only 58 days. The 75 days ones - hasta la vista baby - peas or no peas.
I planted some Fordhook Giant chard yesterday. It is my first time attempting to grow chard I also have Northern Lights but those are for containers. Tomorrow the weather forecast is 85! Holy heat. The poor peas, spinach and lettuce. They are all just peaking out an tomorrow will be a huge slap in the face for these cool loving crops.
I definitely need to load some pictures. My tomatoes are looking really good - well at least I think they are - I have never grown them from seed before. The seedlings are all starting to grow their first set of true leaves and it has only been a few weeks. Good, right? I am attempting for the third and final year to get Garlic Chives going from seed. Half of them have started to emerge but that is as far as I usually get. Once they are 3-4" high I set them out near my rose bushes and them POW - nothing. So, pictures will be coming so you can see the progress....

Well Hello Sun!

Thankfully the rain has stopped - finally. After four days of non-stop rain and flooding we finally had a picture perfect spring day! I was able to get a lot of yard work done - raking up left over leaves, clearing out the asparagus bed, and cutting back all the dead growth from all of the perennials. The asparagus is actually coming up now. I pulled off the salt marsh hay from one of the rows two weeks ago and just pulled off the other row today and found some very sun deprived white stalks growing! I put down some of the asparagus food as well as some slug deterrent - just to be safe. I did go slug hunting with my trusty soapy water bin and found only 6 itsy bitsy babies - but better to get them now then when they are huge and eating everything in sight!
My mom helped me with the raspberry trellis today too. I didn't want to have the unsightly wooden posts so I used some green poles rescued from the victory garden last year and some donated galvanized wire from my neighbor, and fellow gardener, Tom. I love free!!! It isn't perfect but I think it will work to keep that crazy bush under control.
The daffodils are finally starting to bloom. I don't know why ours are so late. Everyone else has had blooms for over a week but ours are just starting to show their pretty faces. Well, at least the ones along side the driveway. The ones out along the front fence look like they are starting to get blooms which is a huge step in the right direction seeing as last year they were to shy to bloom.
The hostas are are all starting to peek out as well. I spread some diatomaceous earth around them to keep the god awful slugs from having afield day. It really pisses me off that birds allegedly eat slugs yet I have more slugs eating away in my garden than I can count. I have bird feeders, bird baths, and perches all over the yard - I guess these city birds are just too lazy to go looking for the meaty slug when they can get the seed for free!

Checking in

So I was able to get the gluten down on Saturday. I had just enough to do the whole yard. Garden's Alive will be getting an order from me soon! Nothing doing yet on the lettuce and pea front in the garden. I think all the rain last week may have washed the lettuce seeds away so I did another sowing of Salad Bowl just to be safe. I also planted my spinach today. I added in some bone meal for added nutrients and apparently Freddie, the part lab, part goat mix rescued last April, likes bone meal. He was caught numerous times with his head sticking through the fence licking the soil! I am going to have to keep an eye on that one - the manure should be a HUGE treat for him!

Here is where my kale stands as of today. I think my mistake in the fall is that I transplanted too early. I like using the muffin tins because it allows me to water from the bottom. I used the Neptune's Seaweed liquid fertilizer the other day when I watered in hoping to give the right nutrients. The growing instructions say to add "appropriate nutrients" but doesn't specify which one! Hopefully it likes seaweed!

The tomato seedlings are looking good. Tomorrow I head off to Depot to get some florescent lights to help them along. I have them under a heated greenhouse right now, but I am a bit concerned about the amount of light they are getting. No spindly tomato plants for me!

Well, Hello Snow!

I wasn't able to get a picture of the snow before heading out to work this morning but yup, in typical New England fashion it is snowing today. I planted three types of peas last Saturday - Dwarf Grey Sugarsnap, Snowbird and Sugarsnap. Hopefully they are hardy enough to withstand the freezing temps that are expected tonight. My buttercrunch lettuce also made it into the garden and not too sure if that will survive either. Thankfully I still have tons of seeds left to try again.
I was able to get my three different tomatoes - Sungold, Chocolate Cherry and Green Zebra - into peat pots on Sunday. I have them on top of the fridge right now and everyone except the Zebra has started to sprout. The Winterbor Kale is coming along nicely in the south facing window in the bedroom. Soon the tomatoes will join them. If the snow/rain/slush will hold off this weekend I am planning on getting the corn gluten down - better late than never. The Dogwoods from Arbor Day also need to find their permanent home this weekend. Fingers crossed that Mother Nature cooperates.

Finally - Spring has arrived!

Well, not officially according to the calendar, but weather-wise, woo-hoo!! After the torrential rains over the weekend (which I thankfully missed having been on vacation) the sky is cloudless, the temperature in the 60’s and the crocuses in bloom. The jonquils, daffodils and tulips have all broken the soil and are peeking up getting ready to spread even more spring cheer. I cannot wait to get out this weekend and get my hands dirty. It has been far too long!! I have some serious yard clean up duties to conquer. There are the straggler leaves that have been around since fall, the broken limbs and twigs from this past storm, old growth to be cut back and the cover crops to be tilled. I also need to get the corn gluten down and the salt marsh hay off the asparagus beds. Home Depot is also on the menu for supplies to finish my raspberry bush support as well as some wood to build a squash trellis. The greenhouse needs to dusted off and brought up from the basement so I can get some of my seeds started and last but not least the Easter decoration need to get put out/up. All this and I really only have Sunday to get it done. My sisters and I are throwing my mom a surprise retirement party on Saturday, so that whole day is a bust. Whew – I’m getting tired just thinking about it.

It's That Time Again

It has been quiet the past few months. I have been planning the garden out on graph paper and today I ordered all my seeds. Yup, this year the garden is growing from seed! This will be my first year attempting to start everything from seed. Well, except the eggplant, I cheated and ordered plants. I have never grown eggplant before so I thought I would start safe. As for seeds I went with the standards - tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, spinach, peas and beans. I am also going to attempt swiss chard, garden purslane and cantaloupe. Hopefully I have enough space to put all the flats! I am also trying out the new cow pots. They are made from cow manure and are supposed to be better than regular peat pots - both for the environment and the plants. I have been itching to get into the garden and cannot wait. This year everything is coming from Territorial Seed. I have had great success with them in the past, so fingers crossed it will be a stellar year!

Record breaking weather (again)

So it hit 67 today - December 3rd! Can you even believe it? It has been way too long since I updated this - bad blogger I am. The gardens have all been cleared out and cleaned up and I planted my green manure in my garden and Tom and I covered the Victory Garden with newspapers and cardboard in the hopes of keeping down some of the obnoxious weeds that grew feet in seconds all summer long. Although it was 67 today we have had a few frosts overnight so I thought I would dig up some of the parsnips.

and as you can see I still suck at growing root crops. The seeds were put down in mid July and should have been ready by mid October clearly these are not edible. Hairy, forked and REALLY pliable. I guess there is always next year.
Oh and because of this unseasonably warm weather we have been having my giant hyacinths and daffodils are now sprouting. I am hoping that they come back again in the spring when they are supposed to! They are a good 2 inches up already. I don't think mulching will help at this point. I also found some more asparagus spears growing yesterday. Those suckers grew from Spring till now. Fingers crossed that I get such a big harvest next year too!